Shadows on a Cave Wall
by LilyLikelyLies
Summary: Over a year after the LABB incident, Beyond Birthday finds himself trapped in somebody else's game. Light Yagami will not accept being treated like a common criminal, he will have revenge against the serial killer who thought that his judgement was greater than Kira's.
1. Waking Up in a Strange Place

Shadows on a Cave Wall

* * *

Death Note / Saw crossover

I don't have rights to either or make profit off of this, if you payed to read this you got scammed.

* * *

When Beyond Birthday woke up, he found himself laying on a cold hard surface with a splitting headache. He was fairly certain he hadn't deliberately fallen asleep in such wretched circumstances, so he had to assume he was either here by accident or that he had been brought here while he was unconscious. Now to figure out just where he was. It was a safe bet to assume he was on a floor as the surface wasn't quite smooth enough to be a table or rough enough to be the bare ground. This combined with the stagnant smell of the air gave B the impression that he was indoors. As a matter of fact the air had an extremely unpleasant metallic tang to it, something like a combination of blood, rust, and something B couldn't quite identify. Seeing as he wouldn't spend enough time to pass out in a place like _this_ , he decided to assume it was a kidnapping. His suspicion was confirmed shortly after, when he heard the moans of someone else, most likely female, who had clearly been gagged.

* * *

Not far away, Light Yagami was pacing in the room he found himself trapped in. It looked like it used to be a relatively nice public washroom, but had fallen into disrepair. That had been the first thing he noticed when he came to, followed immediately by the fact that he had been chained by a cuff around his ankle, to one of the sinks. The fact that someone had the audacity to do such a thing outraged Light. Even if the culprit didn't know that the handsome young man in his clutches was actually God Himself, he should have known the price for committing such a heinous crime in Kira's budding paradise was nothing short of death.

Light had to calm himself down. He knew if he didn't he wouldn't be able to think clearly enough to figure out who was responsible. That's all he needed to do, he did still have the piece of death note paper in his watch, after all. All he'd have to do would be to write that the culprit frees all his hostages after his name and then Light would be free and the loathsome scum would be dead. Now, what did he remember about his capture? Light remembered that he was being followed but that had been L's doing. Could L be responsible for this? No, that wouldn't make sense. L didn't have nearly enough evidence to warrant kidnapping Light, there should still be a larger pool of suspects to sort through. Besides, chaining a suspect up in an abandoned washroom was a terrible strategy.

So it probably wasn't L. Maybe his tail didn't work for L after all. He could've been working for whoever did this the entire time, hell, _he_ might have done this all himself. No that didn't work, why would L bother to install cameras in his house and not have someone follow him when he went out? And the cameras had to be L's; they were way more high tech then anything he could imagine this cretin doing. Therefore the tail was probably innocent. Light briefly wondered what happened to the unlucky guy, but decided it wasn't worth wasting his time. If he'd seen anything before Light's kidnapping, he should have stopped it or at least rescued Light. As things were, it seemed most likely that the tail was either in the dark about what happened, captured by the culprit as well, or dead.

This revelation meant Light was trapped and alone without a lead as to how he got in this situation. That's when Light realized that he was alone. Ryuk should have been lurking somewhere nearby like he had ever since he first arrived. Ryuk must've lost him. It was possible after all. It took Ryuk days to find Light after he first dropped the death note. So Light was alone. Chained to a sink. In a bathroom.

* * *

B knew he would have to confront the source of that sound sooner or later, but the pounding in his head still wouldn't stop and he still hadn't been able to bring himself to open his eyes. Unfortunately, he had gathered as much information as he could with them closed. So B braced himself for the inevitable pain it would cause and opened one eye. A wall. This was in no way useful. At least he wasn't in a well-lit room, that wasn't nearly as painful as he expected. He just had to keep things in perspective, it's not like a simple headache could even compare to the pain he's experienced; this was nothing. Thoroughly motivated, B opened his other eye and sat up. Too fast. The world was spinning as a wave of nausea began to overwhelm him. Quickly looking for something to support himself with before he landed on the floor again, he spotted a desk. It would have to do. B crawled over to the desk and leaned against the side, finally getting a grip on his unpleasant physical response to whatever he'd been knocked out with.

Now that he could think again, B was able to properly take in his surroundings. He seemed to be in an abandoned office. That's what it looked like from all the filth, anyway. The fact that there was a perfectly good desk still sitting in the middle of the room was highly suspect. He decided to investigate this first over his mysterious companion as he was unsure of how steady he'd be on his feet. So he used the desk to lean on and went over everything he could examine. His first impression wasn't wrong. The desk appeared to be the only thing in the room that was completely clean. It would have to have been put here recently, after the room became, well, like _this_. B shuddered at the thought that he'd been laying in this filth not long ago.

The surface was bare, and the desk had obviously been put there for a reason, so B began to search the drawers. The first one was empty, while the second and third were locked. It was only when he reached the fourth drawer that he finally found something noteworthy: a key on a rather short loop of thread and an old cassette tape. He tried the key in each of the locked drawers with no success and didn't have a player for the cassette, so he put them both in his pocket.

As if on cue, the woman with the gag started making noise again, reminding B of her existence.

"On my way," B choked out hoarsely and at nowhere near a volume that she should actually be able to hear.

Annoyed by the sound of his own voice, B began repeating random phrases as he looked around for the direction his companion was in. There was only one door in the room, or office, he supposed, so he tried that expecting to need the key. Naturally the door wasn't locked and the key didn't fit anyway. B was actually frustrated by that, after all, why bother to leave him a key if they weren't going to give him a lock. He decided that he would find his lock eventually, but that didn't make him feel any better about it.

"At least the door opens," he said to no one in particular.

He gave a quick look around his office to make sure he didn't miss anything before opening the door and stepping out into the hallway on the other side. The hallway wasn't very long and just as disgusting as the office had been. It was also lined with doors. B systematically started trying them both with and without the key, but each lock he tried was locked and none of them were _his_ lock. Finally, he came to the last door on the right. It was obviously the door his captor wanted him to go through as it was the only one that was open. Just a crack, but it was definitely open. Miss-bound-and-gagged was clearly moaning away on the other side.

B gently pushed the door open farther so he could see inside and properly meet his new friend. His first impression was that she was strapped upright into some kind of elaborate mechanical device that was mounted to the wall, with each of her limbs forced in a different direction. Her face was down at first and her hair was in the way, but B definitely recognised the young woman's figure. She slowly looked up, understandably nervous given her situation. It took a moment for her to fully register B standing in front of her, but once she did, the woman who was most definitely Naomi Misora began, well, B supposed she'd be screaming if it weren't for the gag.

* * *

Light finally settled on investigating his surroundings. He didn't feel like this would be a particularly useful endeavor, but he didn't have anything else to entertain himself with and frankly he was just bored. He started by examining the sinks lined up on the wall. Of course none of them actually worked and a few were rusty or chipped but otherwise nothing interesting. He continued with the floor and walls around him. There was mildew in between the tiles on the floor and something splotchy and reddish-brown staining the walls. He hoped it was just rust but given the day he was having he was probably wrong.

Light knew he would have to check the toilet stalls eventually but that didn't mean he wasn't still dreading it. He tried to think of anything else he could've missed. Really anything that could forego the inevitable. Light switch! He hadn't tried the light switch yet. It didn't look like turning the lights off and on would help, but if it revealed any clues to his escape that didn't involve sticking his hand in a toilet then it was worth a shot.

The problem with the light switch plan was that the light switch in question was close to the door and just out of reach. Light tried to make himself stretch to reach it several times and in several ways, but never succeeded. This was frustrating, but aside from being a glorious specimen of masculine beauty, Light Yagami was also a genius. It didn't take long for Light to devise a plan so he prepared himself to turn the light switch off. First, he took his jacket off. Next, Light tied one of the sleeves into a large knot. Finally, he threw the knotted end at the light switch while holding onto the other end. It took a few tries to get it to work, but when the room was finally plunged into glorious darkness Light couldn't help to suppress a few chuckles.

The room didn't get as dark as Light would have assumed, there was light coming from under the cracks in the door. So it didn't take long for Light's eyes to adjust to the dark. Once they did, he looked around the room for clues. Luckily the clue was very obvious, the words "In Here" printed in glow-in-the-dark paint. Not so luckily they were written on one of the stalls he was so desperately avoiding. There wasn't anything else left to do, so he walked up to the stall, prepared himself for what would come next, and opened the stall door. Whatever Light had been expecting, it wasn't this. Sitting on the closed toilet lid was an old TV and VCR player.

* * *

Beyond Birthday stood there awkwardly as Naomi Misora continued screaming into her gag and fidgeting to get free. When it finally became obvious that that wouldn't work, Misora slumped her head in defeat. Once it didn't look like he would get bitten or shrieked at, B approached as timidly as he could and lowered the gag off Misora's mouth.

"What do you want?" Misora asked glaring at the serial killer hatefully.

"A lock would be nice," B replied thinking back to his key, "not just any lock if that's what you were thinking. No, I'm looking for a specific lock," he finished.

"What!" She shouted, now clearly more angry than scared.

"I found a key," he said as if it would help, then dug the key out of his pockets to show to Misora.

"See," B said holding the key in front of Misora's face.

Misora just gave him a confused and horrified look.

"What?" he asked as if there wasn't anything odd about the situation they both found themselves in.

"What do you want _with me?_ " Misora hissed.

"Nothing in particular, unless you know where the lock for my key is," B replied obliviously. He understood what she was getting at but didn't want to give the wrong impression.

"Why am I here?" she asked, clearly getting tired of this and desperately hoping for an answer that didn't involve the words "lock" or "key".

"No idea, I just woke up in the other room, heard you making noise and decided to check it out," B answered, shrugging innocently.

"You show up immediately after I get drugged and kidnapped, and I'm supposed to believe this is just what? A coincidence?" Misora said more than asked.

"Yes, why else would I be here?" B asked as though he actually wanted a response.

Misora couldn't quite bring herself to continue this line of questioning after the whole LABB fiasco, so she simply looked over at her hand for a moment.

"What's that?" She asked trying to use her chin to indicate something behind B. He knew that she was just trying to change the subject but his curiosity got the better of him. B turned around and saw a large digital clock counting down on the wall, it was at "00:13:20". Underneath the clock was a table with a tape player. It was probably meant for his cassette, so he put the tape in and pressed play.

" _Hello, Beyond. I want to play a game,"_ It was a scratchy sounding male voice, but it could have been manipulated to sound that way.

" _You have gone your whole life letting your obsession and hatred blind you to the suffering of those around you. Today you'll be given multiple chances to open your eyes. This is the first. The machine Ms. Misora is hooked up to functions similarly to a medieval rack. Once the timer in front of you reaches zero, she will be ripped limb from limb. Only you possess the key to her salvation. If you choose to look through your past and find forgiveness you both might survive, if not, then the consequences' are on you. Let the game begin."_


	2. I Want to Play a Game

Shadows on a Cave Wall

* * *

Light looked over at the TV. It appeared to be set up, so he decided to turn it on. Unfortunately it didn't seem to get any channels, but he supposed that that wasn't the reason it was there. Naturally, his next move was to turn the VCR on as well. Immediately, an image appeared on the screen. It was a poorly-lit room that was just as decrepit as this hell-hole. At first Light was worried that it was just a still picture, until an unsettling puppet in formal wear rode a tricycle into view of the camera.

" _Light,"_ a pre-recorded voice said, the puppet's mouth moving along with it.

" _Let's play a game. You fixate on the judgement of others. You punish them for their sins. All while committing the very same heinous crimes that you claim to condemn. In order to survive you must make a choice: trust your new companions and risk receiving_ their _judgement, or to be their judge and let your arrogance blind you to the hypocrisy. One of these companions is very close to where you are now."_ It continued. Then the screen suddenly shifted to another room. Showing a woman with her head in a metal contraption sitting on a chair leaning against a wall, unconscious.

" _You'll notice that she's in a much worse state then you currently are. The device she's wearing works something like a reverse bear trap, it will rip whatever it's attached to in half in under a second. As soon as she stands up from her chair a timer will start, giving her one minute to get the key that disables the device and use it. The key is located in the room with her, just out of reach. You will decide: risk life and limb to save a stranger, or to judge her unworthy, like so many others, and force her to stand on her own. Live or die, it's your decision."_ With that tape ended.

Immediately afterwards, Light heard the sound of pipes banging from somewhere on the other side of the wall followed by the pipe on the sink he was chained to crashing to the floor. He was free. He could finally escape, sure the exits were probably locked or blocked, but he was confident that he could find a way past that now that he wasn't chained to a sink. He was ecstatic, this was going to be much easier than he had thought.

Still, there was that woman. He couldn't just leave her there could he? He'd have to save her. But then there was the question of what the puppet meant when it said "life or limb". If he risked his life to save one human, what would become of his new world? He couldn't expect _her_ to have the will or the cunning to save it. Ultimately, every other person in the world combined was worth much more than just this one. He had to survive for the sake of the world. But he didn't know just what the risk actually was. Perhaps he could think his way out of it and save the woman without risking himself. That would be ideal, save the girl and all of society. He'd be even more of a hero then he was now. The woman would be so grateful that that she'd do anything for him. Together they could escape much easier than Light alone. He grabbed his jacket and the pipe that had landed on the floor because they might be useful later. Happy about the new turn of events, he walked out of the bathroom to find the damsel in distress.

* * *

Beyond considered his options. The tape clearly wanted to teach him a lesson about the value of life, or forgiveness, or some other sentimental bullshit. He didn't want to give his captor the satisfaction of "learning his lesson", so he should let her die. But that was a trap, the tape had outright told him it was. What message would it send if he let himself get killed by this pretentious, self-righteous, hypocrite? That Beyond Birthday was just another nobody at the feet of a more successful serial killer? That Beyond Birthday was too stupid to figure out what the bloody tape wanted? That Beyond Birthday was just a stubborn fool who couldn't bring himself to do what needed to be done to win the game? No, he wouldn't abide that. He'd play the hero, pull off the whole "redemption" act, and when he was free, _then_ he would show this pathetic piece of dirt exactly what happens when you get on Beyond Birthday's bad side.

Now that that was settled, all he had to do was actually save Misora. That would be easy, the tape was referencing his key, which meant that the lock was somewhere on the machine holding Misora. Not seeing a problem with this strategy, he turned back towards Misora prepared to play his part.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out," he said, giving Misora the best "frightened and concerned" expression he could muster. She had become more visibly upset, likely because she believed she was doomed.

"You're actually going to save me? After everything?" She said, becoming more incredulous than scared.

"That was a long time ago, a lot has changed, and besides, I always liked you," Beyond responded, crossing the room to get to Misora's lock.

"It wasn't _that_ long. People don't change, at least not that easily," She retorted, most likely using the argument as a distraction from her current situation.

"I never said it was easy. After I was arrested I felt horrible about what happened. Mostly because I failed. All of my efforts, all of the risks I took, all of it was for nothing. I honestly considered killing myself, but then, what kind of message would that send?" He asked while searching for the lock, crouching near Misora's feet at one point, then stretching to his full height to see by her head at another.

"Please stop acting like you were some kind of victim. It's disrespectful to the people _you_ killed," She said venomously.

This presented an interesting problem for Beyond: Misora was still convinced that he was responsible for the LABB murders. He was, of course, but it turns out that you can't actually convict someone when the only evidence against them is a piece of thread that _wasn't_ at the crime scene. In fact the very idea that the killer would use such a method over finding the key was extremely unlikely in the first place.

"Found it," Beyond said, welcoming the distraction. The lock was small and located on the right near her chest. It was somewhat hidden by a part of the machine itself. He held onto the part, which was most likely part of the pulling mechanism, and slid the key into the lock. When the lock finally clicked open, he felt an unsettling shifting of weight. He did his best to counter this with his own bodyweight, but he didn't think he could hold everything in place for long.

"What's wrong? Why can't I get out?" Misora asked, more annoyed than anything.

"It seems that the entire thing was being held together by that lock. If I let go now you'll come out, but you'll also probably be crushed when the whole thing falls apart," Beyond said as if this was a minor problem and not life or death.

"Well what do we do?" She asked, her bitter tone thinly masking her fear.

"The table, on the count of three, got it?" He asked, his muscles feeling like they would give out at any moment.

"Got it," she said, nodding once.

"One," he said preparing for what would happen.

"Two," he really didn't think he could hold on any longer.

"Three," he quickly let go of the device. He felt a sickening thud as what used to be holding Misora's arm in place came into contact with his skull. He was barely aware of Misora or the machine as he immediately fell to the floor.

* * *

Light was thinking about where the footage of the woman must have been shot. Considering the familiar tile, it must have been the other bathroom. It could've been a bathroom on one of the other floors, but the comment the puppet made about her being close by ruled that out.

The other bathroom looked a lot like the first, only this one had a transparent box at just above eye height being supported by a metal frame. Light had been right in assuming the woman was here. She was now looking at him, having regained consciousness.

"Everything's going to be OK," he said, giving her a comforting smile. He looked at the box, which upon examining had the key suspended from its ceiling. Its floor had what would be two holes where he could potentially stick his hands in to get the key, but they appeared to be covered by metal. He poked at one of the hand-holes with his pipe only to see that it wasn't a solid piece of metal after all. Instead it was a series of triangular panels that would open towards the center for whatever was stuck inside. The pipe was too small to reach the key so he pulled it out, grimacing at the sound it made as the metal panels scraped against the pipe. Realizing that that was the danger that the video had promised, he decided not to stick his hand in.

First he tried to break the box by hitting it with the pipe, but it appeared to be made of some sort of reinforced material. Next he tried to dislodge the box from its frame with the idea that he could shake the key out if he could only get the box loose. Unfortunately this didn't work either. He considered using his jacket as protection against the metal panels but doubted he would be dexterous enough to get the key with the fabric over his hand, and was afraid that it wouldn't be enough to help. He looked back over at the woman.

"I'm sorry," he said, calmly, not wanting to cause her to panic but still needing to break the news.

"There _is_ a way to get the key out without anyone getting hurt but it isn't going to be pleasant," he continued, trying to ease her into what he was about to say.

"I just have to hold one of the holes open while you reach in and grab it," Light explained. The woman quickly made noises that indicated that she wasn't ok with that particular plan.

"I know it's scary but it's the only for this to work. I promise you'll be fine," he said, trying to reassure her.

"It'll only take a few seconds to do and then we can both get out of here and go home," he continued. This time she looked a little less upset by the idea. She appeared to be actually considering the idea until she came to a conclusion and started making annoyed grunts.

"I don't understand. What's wrong?" he asked. She then started making sounds that Light was eventually able to interpret as the words "you do it".

"You want to hold the panels while I get the key?" he asked to be sure. Her response was a relatively clear "yes".

"OK, I don't see why not, I'm sure this will work," He said, beaming at her, confident that she couldn't see how scared he really was. Truthfully the plan should work, and there's no reason she should let him get stuck, after all, she had a lot more to lose then the he did if this didn't work. With all this in mind he walked over to the box and waited for her to follow.

"I'm ready. You just have to come here and open the panels, OK?" he said, smiling. She gave an affirmative grunt and then stood up. That's when she heard the ticking start and began to panic.

* * *

AN: So this is the second chapter. I felt I needed to make it a little AU for the sake of the premise, but plan on explaining that in story.

Also, if there was an issue with getting a notification for this chapter more than once that was my fault. Sorry.


	3. Shoko Maki

Shadows on a Cave Wall

* * *

AN: Sorry for the delay, I'd been overwhelmed for the past few months. I come bearing violence, at least. Hopefully, that's a good thing. Without further ado; the story.

* * *

The world was spinning. Everything was throbbing. He could see strange shapes in front of him. He decided to close his eyes because then it might hurt less. He heard, or rather felt, noise. And then someone started shaking him.

"Ryuzaki, uh, Birthday, wake up!" He heard her voice, Misora's voice. She sounded almost _concerned_. He'd laugh at the idea if his head wasn't pounding so hard. He just… He just needed some rest. He normally wouldn't let himself fall asleep in such a wretched place, but at this point there didn't seem to be an alternative. He let the sweet blackness of sleep engulf him, but _she_ kept shaking him.

"Nn… Let me sleep…" It came out much weaker, and frankly, slurred than he would have liked, but she seemed to understand him.

"No! You have a concussion; you might end up in a coma!" Maybe this was just instinct for her. That would explain why Beyond was still alive. That compulsion of hers never stopped being a pain… Actually, he was pretty sure concussions didn't work that way…

"If I was going to end up in a coma, I would already be in one. Now, let me sleep," He hissed this. He wanted to raise his voice, but with his current condition, he felt like it might just kill him.

"In a place like this? Do you honestly think it's safe?" Misora sounded incredulous, but then, he didn't care how she felt as long as she left him alone.

"Why do care what happens to _me_? Go! Explore, do something, just leave me alone!" He actually did raise his voice this time, and while it didn't kill him, the resultant pain did make him wish it had.

"Fine," she said quietly. He heard some shuffling and then the creak of a door. Apparently Beyond had finally managed to talk some sense into her. He thanked the cold uncaring god as he was able to fall into a desperately wanted sleep.

* * *

The mystery woman looked back and forth before running back to her chair. The ticking continued and for a moment, Light's look of pure confidence faltered. He quickly replaced it with one of warm concern with a hint of encouragement.

"Please, we need to follow the plan." There was just a tinge of desperation in Light Yagami's voice. He wanted her to think he cared, to trust him. If he failed that, then he might as well let her die. She made a high pitched squeak, but seemed to have gotten her nerve back. She walked back to Light and the box, infuriatingly slow, but still.

"Now, get into place." This really wasn't going to be pleasant, but hopefully it would be worth it. She nodded and used both her hands to open the panels as far as they'd go. If only her hands weren't shaking so much… He sighed; clearly this wasn't going to get any better than it was, so he quickly stuck his hand in the newly formed opening. The sudden movement caused the woman to flinch, which in turn allowed one of the metal panels to slice into his wrist. He winced, letting out an inarticulate noise that wasn't quite loud enough to be a scream. The pain was horrible and there was a lot of blood; from that alone, he could tell that it was deep. That seemed to only startle the woman even more. Her trembling caused several less deep, but nasty looking cuts on the back and side of his arm. The metal was easily shredding his sleeve. He dropped the pipe and used his other hand to help the woman keep the panels open. Clearly she couldn't manage this on her own. He took a moment to breathe. He knew they didn't have much time left, but if he dropped the key, it would be game over. He was able to lift the key with his middle and index finger, but doing so almost caused it to fall. He was _just barely_ able to secure it in his fist. He gave her a look of triumph, ready to pull the key out, until the ticking stopped.

His expression changed to one of horror as everything played before him in slow motion. He saw the look in her eyes change in a way that must have reflected his own. Her jaw was forced open as far as it would go by the strong metal device, but it didn't stop there. The tearing started at the corners of her mouth. Her jaw clearly must have been dislocated at this point. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see any more. There was a loud ringing in Light's ears and he felt like his head was under water. He knew he should have heard the thing, the _reverse bear trap_ , go off- should have heard her hit the ground, maybe even screaming; but for some reason, he just couldn't. He felt dizzy, light headed. He felt like he was going to pass out- he wanted to, but he was trapped. He should've been in a lot of pain, but he couldn't feel much of anything. He attributed it to a combination of psychological trauma and blood loss. He made a small noise, something between a giggle and a gasp, as the thought repeated in his mind: he was trapped.

* * *

Beyond Birthday woke up on the floor. Again. With a splitting headache. Again. This was getting rather frustrating. He vaguely remembered sending Naomi Misora away, but he had nothing of the event that had left him here. He reached up and felt his head, looking for the source of his pain. He found it: blood. Yeah, that would do it. Did Misora…? No, if she did, it would've been harder to get rid of her. Maybe. There was a tape player… and a key. Did he still have those? He felt his pockets, and no. They were still probably around, somewhere… unless Misora had taken them. Having become convinced that that was the case, B decided to set off and find Misora. On some level, he knew that his thought process wasn't quite on track, but finding Misora seem to be as good a plan as any so he crawled over the debris, and made his way to the exit.

Thankfully, Misora had left the door open. That meant he didn't have to bother with any of that "standing up" rubbish. The hallway looked more or less the same as it did the last time Beyond had seen it. Aside from the different angle, one of the once locked doors was now open. Did Misora have the key? Maybe she did and never told him, or maybe she used his key. Wait, didn't he try that already? He was fairly sure he did, and that it hadn't worked. So the best answer he could come up with at the moment was that she had another key.

On the other side, he found even more hallway. That wasn't exactly encouraging. Even worse, none of the doors were open. Most of them were probably locked, and even if they weren't, he'd actually have to stand. But then he noticed the bathrooms were in this hall. They had the sort of door that you only had to push to open, and to be completely honest, Beyond felt more nauseous then ever. The idea of a nice bathroom with toilets and sinks seemed very appealing.

* * *

Light was… well he knew he should be distancing himself from what had happened to the unknown woman. It's not like he never saw somebody die before. He immediately recalled Takuo Shibuimaru; that guy on the bike who had harassed that woman. Light also remembered the way he had died, and how Light himself had felt afterwards. But that guy had deserved it! He supposed he should say something to his rescuer. After all, if it weren't for her, he'd still be trapped and bleeding, with his hand in that box. He still had the key. He probably should have been proud of that, even if it was useless now. He wasn't sure who this new woman was, but she seemed to be handling their current situation really well. She had an air of authority about her, so it seemed like a safe guess to assume that she was some sort of government agent. He didn't remember what her name was, although she had probably said it. He hadn't been paying attention to what she had been saying, in favour of the comforting sound of her voice.

"I'm sorry. What's your name again?" Light asked as politely as he could.

"Shoko Maki," She said patiently. This probably wasn't the first time she had spoken to a witness of some horrible crime.

He had tried to free himself, but until Maki-san had shown up, he was practically helpless. He felt embarrassed, really. The God of the New World- he shuddered to think what his followers would think. Still, Maki-san didn't seem to see him as a potential threat, which he could use to his advantage. He needed to get out of here, and to take a shower, and maybe stitches. Nevertheless, he would get out. He just hoped Maki-san would turn out to be clever or strong enough to be useful.

* * *

Beyond dry-heaved into one of the toilets. When he first entered the bathroom, he got the impression that someone had already been there. Specifically, he heard the sound of water- no something more artificial than water, perhaps audio static. He had been thinking that when his nausea got the better of him, which was what sent him rushing to the nearest toilet. Once that was done and over with, he decided to get a better look at his surroundings. It didn't take long to find the source of the static; a television in one of the stalls. Made about as much sense as anything, really. He fiddled around with the VHS player, since there appeared to be something in there. He rewound it and hit play.

The video itself was somewhat interesting. It was mostly the same drivel as the cassette that he had gotten, but it proved that there were at least two others, besides Misora and himself, trapped in this place. It also gave a good indication of where to look. He decided it would be best not to stay here longer than necessary. So, still crawling, he made his way out of the bathroom.

Naturally, the distance between the men's and women's bathrooms was very short, and as such, so was his journey. When he opened the other bathroom's door, he got a clear view of Misora, a woman's corpse, a clear box-type thing, and an ashen faced young Japanese man. It took a moment for the two living inhabitants of the room to notice his presence. First the young man, who then pointed him out to Misora. After this, there was a long moment of both of them just staring at Beyond. He had no idea what they found to be so compelling that they'd completely ignore proper etiquette, after all, staring was considered quite rude. Still, it gave him an excellent chance to get a better look at the new face. He was well dressed, or he would have been, back when he decided to put that outfit on. He had lighter hair than was typical for an ethnically Japanese person to have, perhaps he dyed it. And of course, there was the weirdest thing of all, about this young man: He didn't have any numbers. That wasn't a thing that happened, everybody had numbers, everybody except B himself, but still! To see someone else like that was incredible. Maybe he had finally met someone who saw the things he saw. Even if he didn't, this young man was without a doubt someone to keep track of. For a moment, all this overshadowed the man's name, to Beyond. It wasn't until he decided to watch out for his new companion, that he noticed the name. It was a little odd, but then, what did he expect from a potential supernatural entity.

"Yorugami Tsuki…" He barely spoke the name out loud. He wasn't sure he was reading that right, and in fact, if the video from before was addressing the young man before him, then the "Tsuki" part was probably meant to be "Light". Hopefully, this would be more interesting then he had originally thought…


	4. Introductions and Interviews

Shadows on a Cave Wall

Light hadn't noticed at first that they had an intruder. He'd just been listening to the soothing droning of Maki-san's voice, when he noticed the shadows across the floor move. Obviously, the door had opened, and someone had to have done it. That was clear enough, but it took him a moment to notice the actual person holding the door open. No wonder, seeing as the strange man was laying on his stomach. Perhaps they'd finally caught their captor. Light pointed him out to Maki-san, wanting to gauge her reaction, as well as to keep the stranger from getting away. There was a long awkward silence where he and the man just stared at each other. He'd muttered something inaudible, but neither of them had been able to address the other. Eventually this was broken when Maki-san cleared her throat.

"Hello. My name is Shoko Maki. Would you like to come in and join us?" She spoke with a clear, pleasant voice. He was kind of surprised that Maki-san wasn't as suspicious of that guy as he was. Perhaps she wasn't as clever as he'd hoped she'd be.

"Ah," was all the man said. He got up and dusted himself off, the man then bent his neck at an unnatural angle, making an unsettling popping noise. "Ryuzaki, please." The man walked up to Light and held his hand out, despite Maki-san being the one who'd originally spoken.

"Yagami," Light said, having mostly regained his composure. He shook the other man's hand, though it felt like an incredibly uncomfortable gesture, and required him to use his bad arm. Hadn't this Ryuzaki just been on the floor seconds ago? Light wiped his hand off on his pant leg as soon as Ryuzaki moved on to Maki-san to exchange pleasantries.

"I don't mean to impose, but…" He nodded towards the woman's body laying quietly on the floor. Of course the corpse was quiet. Light chastised himself for even thinking it.

"She was trapped in that thing… I couldn't save her." Light gave his best "trauma victim" impression. Although it may not have been entirely an act, that just added to the realism of the performance.

"That's not what I meant." Ryuzaki then went over to the body and apparently began searching it for something.

"Ryuzaki!" Maki-san shouted. It was odd that she didn't use honorifics, but she clearly found Ryuzaki's actions very disturbing, and likely just forgot. He was glad she was upset, if she hadn't said something, Light probably would've.

"What? I'm examining the body," he said, pausing. He honestly didn't seem to find anything wrong with poking and prodding a corpse, which only made him seem even more suspicious. Then again, that did almost make a sort of sense.

"Please stop. We already know what killed her, you don't need to do _this._ " Maki-san went pale. Light was curious what she thought "this" was. As disrespectful, strange, and just plane creepy as Ryuzaki was being, Maki-san's reaction still seemed just a little too strong.

"Wallet!" Ryuzaki said enthusiastically, holding up what was indeed a beige wallet. He had apparently been ignoring Maki-san until he found what he was looking for.

"You're trying to identify the body," Maki-san said, rather than asked. She looked relieved at the prospect. She had most likely been imagining something much worse.

Ryuzaki went through the wallet and pulled out a Japanese driver's license.

"Her name was Kimiko Kujo," he looked at each of the others before adding "I'd like to be able to speak to each of you in private, please. Maki-san first. Yagami-san, would you please wait in the hall?"

Light clenched his fist around the key. Who put this guy in charge? Light and Maki-san were both perfectly equipped to do it themselves. Arrogant, that was all Light could think about Ryuzaki, well, that and that he was some type of detective.

"I don't see any harm in it, if you don't mind," Maki-san said, smiling apologetically at Light. He didn't want to seem too confrontational, at least, not yet, so he nodded politely and walked out of the bathroom, the door swooshing closed behind him.

* * *

"Shoko Maki?" Beyond asked, smiling teasingly.

"It's not exactly safe to be giving out your real name, these days," Misora said in response. She shrugged. He supposed that she didn't feel that it was a big deal, but that train of thought…

"You don't think that Yagami kid is Kira, do you?" It was true that Yagami didn't have any numbers, but Beyond didn't have any reason to assume that that meant the boy was Kira.

"Maybe. Probably not, but it's better to be on the safe side," She said. She was fairly quick to dismiss the idea, but then, she didn't know what Beyond knew.

"True… Oh, by the way, how did you manage to open the door?" That had been bugging Beyond since he found it unlocked and opened. He guessed that she had a key, but that only raised even more questions.

"I kicked it in, I'm surprised you didn't hear me. You must have been really out of it," She said, any sense of concern apparently fled her mind.

"Please, don't do that again. I think I have an idea what's going on, and if my theory is correct, going around busting down doors might be very dangerous." The truth was, he was over ninety percent sure what was happening, he had been since he heard the tape. The problem was that he didn't know who hade done it.

"Oh, what?" Misora looked curious. He remembered that from before, it was what had made her so fun to play with.

"I'll explain later. I don't want to have to do it again for Yagami." He could just not tell Yagami, but it would be more useful if he did know.

"Fine," Misora said, doing a good job of concealing any disappointment she may have been feeling.

"Did you find anything useful on the body?" She asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Sorry, just the driver's license," he said shrugging. Misora was clearly disappointed, but Beyond wasn't exactly going to tell her the truth just to make her happy. Actually, he wasn't lying; the driver's license was the only thing he found that was the least bit interesting. What he wasn't planning to tell Misora was that he had known Kimiko Kujo. He didn't know her _well_ , but that he did was most likely important.

Now that he knew who was being targeted, he needed to establish something that connected all of them. If it weren't for Yagami, he'd have assumed that _he_ was the connection, himself. But as far as he could tell, he never knew anyone related to Yagami, let alone the boy, himself. Perhaps he was wrong and he did know him in some obscure, indirect fashion.

"Is there anything else, or should I invite Yagami back in?" Beyond asked, wanting to know more about the young man who could be the key to "why" if not "who".

"Yes, actually. Why do you want speak to Yagami alone? I understand why you'd want to talk to me, but whatever he is outside, here he's just a scared kid."

"It's more for the sake of cover. You were the one who established us as not knowing each other. It would be strange then, if we were to sneak off together," Beyond said, nonchalantly.

* * *

"You can go in now," Maki-san said once she found Light sitting on the floor, cradling his injured arm, down the hall a piece.

"Maki-san, if you don't mind, can I speak to you for a moment first?" Light asked. He had been sitting here for a while with nothing better to do than think about the situation, and in particular, Ryuzaki.

"Yes?" she asked, not dropping that calm, reassuring tone she had used with him before.

"Ryuzaki, who is he? Why should we trust him?" Light asked. He didn't like the idea of leaving some weird stranger in charge, not without some way to keep him under Light's thumb.

"I don't know, and I'm not saying we should. It would just be easier for us to humor him, at least for the time being," Maki-san said. Light wasn't quite sure what was going on in her head, but he knew this wouldn't be the last time they had this discussion.

"Fine. Then I guess it's my turn. Anything you want to warn me about first?" He smiled slyly as he spoke.

"No- wait, yes. Ryuzaki seems to be- well, I don't want to be rude, but, he seems rather odd. You'll see what I mean." Maki-san looked back at the bathroom door quickly before meeting Light's gaze. The look on her face gave the impression that she wouldn't answer if he asked for details. He could press her for more information, but it would be just as easy to speak to the other man and find out for himself. It wasn't as if Ryuzaki's entrance had struck Light as anywhere close to normal, so he didn't think he would be surprised by anything that happened next.

* * *

Beyond had made himself comfortable, sitting with his back against one of the walls. He had given up on keeping himself clean; it just wouldn't be possible. So that's where he was when doe-eyed Light-spelled-as-moon Yagami walked in.

"Is there something you wanted?" he asked, acting all sweet and innocent.

"Ah, yes. Do you know anyone here? Perhaps Maki-san or myself, or even…" Beyond gave a look towards the body, still laying on the floor. He grimaced; it wasn't as if dear old K was just going to get up and walk away.

"No, this is the first time I've met any of you. Why, do you know anyone?" Yagami followed B's gaze towards K.

Would it be better to tell him? He didn't have a reason to tell Misora, and he knew how she could be. She was like a dog with a bone; once something caught her interest, she'd never let go. She already had just enough information to come to some conclusions that it would be best she didn't. Yagami, on the other hand, knew nothing of Beyond's past. Hell, there was a decent chance that Yagami had no idea who Beyond Birthday was, or what he'd done. He was very clearly Japanese, and outside a few small circles, the Los Angeles BB murder cases had never been widely known. It was possible that he'd been in LA around that time, but B highly doubted it. Still, not having a reason _not_ to tell wasn't the same as having one _to_ tell. What if K was the connection? No. He was almost certain that there was no way for K to have ever come in contact with Misora. He'd keep a lid on that, for the time being.

"I don't believe so," He said, "Her face seems vaguely familiar, and I feel like I've heard her name before, but I can't say I've ever met her." He was still looking at K's body. There. This way, the stage was set if he ever needed to reveal the incident involving K.

"And Maki-san?" Yagami asked, in that innocent tone that was starting to feel grating.

"No. Is there anything else, or can I continue now?" Beyond asked, making his annoyance clear.

"Yes, of course." Yagami nodded his head, in what was probably meant to be an extremely shallow bow.

"You're Japanese, correct? Have you ever travelled abroad? Or do you have any family living in another country?" B asked, finally getting back on topic.

"I am Japanese, I haven't travelled, and none of my family live outside Japan, as far as I'm aware. Is there a reason you seem to believe I have some sort of connection to the three of you?" Yagami seemed like he was starting to get impatient. That was to be expected, and Beyond wasn't exactly in the most patient mood, himself. It would be best to wrap this meeting up quickly. He likely wouldn't get any useful information just by asking; it would be better to keep investigating him in secret.

"You don't think it's strange the culprit took the four of us? Anyway, I have a theory, but I'd rather Maki-san be here. That way I won't have to explain it twice." There. Done. He waited for Yagami to respond.

"Of course," Yagami nodded, politely, "I'll go get her, then?" He asked, more likely looking for an excuse to leave, than being helpful. Either way, he didn't wait long enough for Beyond to give a response.

"What are you?" B asked, right as Yagami opened the door. He wasn't sure if Yagami had heard him, but he truly hoped he did.

* * *

Light didn't immediately stop. He assumed he simply misheard. After all, it would be much more reasonable to assume Ryuzaki had asked _who_ he was instead of _what._ He only stopped after the door had swung closed behind him. Even if he had said "what", it seemed more likely that Ryuzaki had misspoke. The idea that he doubted what Light was, was just a little unsettling. Maki-san had apparently been standing close to the door and smiled apologetically when she saw his expression.

"Like I said, he can be a little…" She began before trailing off.

"Yeah… Anyway, he said he had an idea what was going on…" Light said.

"Then we probably shouldn't keep him waiting," Maki-san said.

When they re-entered the bathroom, Ryuzaki was standing up, examining the box that Light had injured himself with. He gently pushed one of the razor sharp panels up with one finger, when Light spoke up.

"You really shouldn't do that."

"Hm? Oh, good, everyone's here," Ryuzaki said, withdrawing his finger. He looked at his finger and grimaced. He looked around, and not finding anything suitable, wiped it off on the side of the box, leaving a red smear behind.

"You said you had a theory?" Maki-san asked, encouragingly.

"Ah, yes. I do have a theory. It's not complete, but given the information I have, I'd say it's fairly decent, none the less."

"And what would that theory would be, Ryuzaki-san?" Light asked.

"Have either of you, by any chance, heard of the jigsaw killer?" Ryuzaki asked, looking just a little too smug.


End file.
